SEATTLE — As the students and staff at Garfield High School are mourning the loss of the junior student Amarr Murphy-Paine who was shot and killed Thursday in front of the school, others in the community are trying to help Garfield High School seniors still have a memorable night for their senior prom on Saturday.
In addition to facing the loss of Amarr, all the supplies for the school’s prom didn't show up. Now the community is stepping up in a big way to help seniors still have a memorable night for their senior prom.
At Garfield High School Saturday morning, several people visited a memorial set up on the stairs where Amarr was killed.
“People who witnessed it are just so, so traumatized.,” said Linnea Johnson, the student body vice president of the school. “They'll probably never forget what they saw and what happened.”
Johnson said shootings have started to become almost normal for Garfield high school seniors, although they are not usually deadly.
“There’s been maybe like four just this year, which is insane,” said Johnson about shootings at and around her school.
As tragedy looms over the school, seniors like Johnson are set to have their prom on Saturday night.
“This tragedy has occurred and it's hard to just act like everything's normal and have fun and be happy when one of our classmates has just died,” said Johnson.
To add to the challenges facing the school, prom supplies were set to be delivered Thursday, but due to the shooting at the time of delivery, they got returned to the warehouse, leaving seniors with nothing for prom.
“I was like, so we won’t have decorations, we won't have food, and that's that,” said Johnson.
But that is when the school PTSA stepped into action.
“I got a call from the athletic director here at the school and she's like, I need PTSA help, and we're like, we got you.” said Alicia Spanswick, the Garfield High School PTSA co-president.
Spanswick had a car of supplies on Saturday morning for that night’s prom, but many more were expected to get dropped off at the prom venue later Saturday evening.
She did not know Amarr personally and wanted to alleviate stress for students and teachers who did know him, so she made a Facebook post asking the community for supplies and support for the Garfield High School prom.
“It's just been overwhelming the amount of support we've gotten,” said Spanswick.
The community responded in a big way, with several groups, companies, and individuals pledging to contribute to make the prom the best it can be for the students.
“A restaurant down the street from our venue is bringing 15 pizzas, we have parents from Roosevelt, who just had their prom last weekend, they're bringing in some extra balloon arch equipment and a banner,” Spanswick said.
Seniors like Johnson are now hopeful for their prom night, but her biggest hope is for a safer future for returning Garfield students.
“I just I feel so -- I feel sad for them, but I'm hoping that finally maybe things will start to change,” said Johnson.
Community members and parents also stepped up to be chaperones at the prom, because originally many teachers were assigned to chaperone and parents in the community didn’t want them to need to take on that responsibility.
Any leftover snacks or decorations from the prom will be brought to school Tuesday, which is the first day students will return since the shooting.